Can varnishing machine



Oct. 17, 1933. 5 CQOKE r AL 1,931,252

CAN VARNISHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 24, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1.

awueubow Oct. 17, 1933.

FIG.3.

G. C. COOKE ET AL 01m VARNISHING mcrmir:

Filed Oct. 24. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 CAN VARNISHING MACHINE Filed Oct.24, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG!!- G. C. COOKE ET AL CAN VARNI SHING MACHINB Oct. 17, 1933.

Filed Oct. 24, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 illllllllll ll illl IllliillllFllllllll M Patented Oct. 17, 1933 a g a UNITED- I I AT T-QFF dF*1,931,252 CAN ,VARNISHING MACHINE GordonC. Cooke, 'Ridgewood, N. J andRobertF. Becht, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Robert Becht -5Cincinnati Ohio, a corporation of Ohio ApplicationOctober 24,1930.Serial N'O.49o, s9o

9 Claims. (01. 919-27) This invention relates to a machine for apthroughthe machine the cans are continuously plying a protective coating to theouter surfaces advanced in the same direction that is to say of cans soas to prevent rusting of the cans-at the introduction and withdrawal ofthe cans are points where moisture might otherwise accumuby way ofmovement of them in the same direc- :.,6 late in direct contact with themetal. It has tion rather than by movements in opposite direc- 0 beenfound, particularly in the shipment of tions. v I v canned goodsoverseas, that moisture has a ten- Another feature of the machine. isthe-providency to accumulate at the joints of the cans and sion ofcooperating varnish-applying rollers at various points beneath the labelwhere it may which are operated. at the same peripheral speeds.

.10. happento be slightly loosened from the metal. Suitable provisionsare made,- furthermore, for

Corrosion sets in at these points and the canlis the adjustment of therollers to adapt the ma made unsightly. In some instances the goodschine to .the reception of cans of variable diam-- may be spoiled as. aresult of the rusting of the eter and also for .the adjustment of .thespeed can. of operation of the devices which control the For theforegoing reason it has been found introductio'n'and removal of cansfrom'thernadesirable in the shipment of canned-goods overchine. Thislatter mechanism enables operation seas, and even in the handling of.such goods of the .machineat the maximum speed per.- in damperclimates, when they'are apt to be missible: for eachsize of canconsistent with a kept on the shelf'for: a long period, to applycomplete and thorough coating of the same. 220v a thin coating ofvarnish, or similar protective While the machine disclosed as embodyingagent, to the entire surface of the cans. This the invention isparticularly suited to the coatcoating may be applied either directly tothe body ing of metal cans it is also adapted for the ape. of the can ormay be applied over the label which plicat'ion of a. coating to 1containers of other is ordinarily pasted to the can. The latterpractypes .as for example to fibre Containers, 1 p 25 tice is deemedpreferable inasmuch as it afiords a per or cardboard containers," orbottles ior jars go somewhat better protection for the canandpreofya'rious sorts. The coating may be applied sents a moreattractive appearance even through primarily asajprotective; agent or itmay -be a cheaper form of label" may be employed. used entirely-for "thepurpose of improvingthe where the can is coated after the label hasappearance of the container; 2;

1'30v been applied, it is possible to employ a dull Other featuresl andadvantages will app ar 5- type of label, which is considerably lessexpenfrom the detailed description of oneillustrative sive than theglossy or pre-varm'shed type norform of the invention which will nowbegiven mally employed on unvarnished cans; A dull in conjunction withthe accompanying drawlabel which has been varnished presents justings,'in whic h: 1. i 35; as good an appearance if not a better one thanFigure 1' is a vertical sectional view taken lon- 1 an ordinarypre-glossed label. The use of dull gitudinally through :the machine;

labels, furthermore, serves to overcome a difii- Figure-2 is a-detaildisclosing m ans forapculty which has been encountered in the hanplyingvarn sh to 0 8 Of the Oafi O G SIJ' dling of glossy labels; well knownthey re- Figure-3 is a plan view-of the.machine; 1 i 3 quire theomission of the glazing along a small Figures 4, .5 and 6 are sectionalviews-taken strip at the end of the label to permit the over-'- throughthe can-feeding and coating mechlapping portion of the opposite end ofthe label aIi S Showing t -p Various 'D O to properly adhere to it.The-expense involved assigned during an'operation;

in the coating of the cans when efiiciently car- ZFigure 7 isla detailview showing in elevation .45 ried out is less than thesaving permittedin 'the the supportingfand driving means for certain cost of the labelsthat may be employed. I of the 'coatingrollers; and. I I q It has beenan object of the present inven- 'Figure 8 is.afperspectiveiviewoftheisupporta tion to produce a can-varnishing machine which ing anddriving meansfor one .of the coating may be operated continuously andrapidly to rollers with-certain Ofthepartsspreadapart.a L 9 feed anendless seriesofcans pastsuitable var- .Referring nowto the; drawings,the -frame- 105, nishing devices capable of completely coating work ofithe' machine consists .of 'a pair of side each can in a minimum oftime. In the attainmembers 10 and 11 (Figures: 1 and 3) which ment' ofthis object the cans are fedf'at a more rise substantially verticallyfrom the floor on rapid rate than has heretofore been possible which.the. machine standson feet/.12; formed as in machines of this characterand in passing extensions'ofthe frame members. These side 11b 7 framesare held spaced relation by suitable cross rods, shafts and bars, someof which serve further to support various portions of the operatingmechanism of themachine, as will appear hereinafter.

A worm 18, carried by the shaft 17, cooperates.

with a worm-wheel 19 secured to a shaft 29 which is journalled betweenthe side frames 10 and 11. On the shaft 20 there is secured a pulleycone 21 which converges gradually from a larger to a smaller diameterand is adapted to cooperate with a belt 22 which at its opposite endsurrounds a corresponding, conical pulley 23, having a slight taper.inthe opposite direction from that of'the pulley 21. The pulley ,23 issecured to a shaft 230 which .is journalled in the side frames 10 and11. It will be apparent that the speed of rotation of the pulley-23 andits shaft 230 maybe varied by'shifting the belt 22 along the conicalsurfaces of the pulleys 21 and23. Movement of the belt toward the bottomof Figure 3 will cause a reduction in the speed of rotation of the shaft230 in a manner well known. For the purpose. of shifting the belt tovary theangular speed of the shaft 230,

a belt guiding structure 240, having mounted thereon a spring-tensionedroller 241 for apply ing a desired .tension to the belt, may be shiftedina direction parallel to the axes of the pulleys by rotation-of afeed-screw 25. A hand-wheel 26 is provided for turning the feed screw.

At aboutthejmidpoint of the shaft 17 there is, secured a bevel gear 27adjacent a. supporting bracket 28 for the shaft. This bevelgear mesheswitha bevel pinion 29 secured to a shaft 30 which extendsthrough'abearing provided in the frame 11. At its inner end the shaft 30 carriesa pinion 31 adapted to mesh with a pinion 32'secured to a shaft 33directly above and parallel to the shaft 3 0. Uponthe shaft 33 there ismounted a'soft, flexible roller 34 formed of rubber or gum, or any othersuitable material such as commonly employed in the production of inkingrollers for printing presses and the like. In a similar way the pinion31 may cooperate with, another. pinion 35 secured to a shaft 36 whichserves to support a roller 37 similar. to the roller 34. The shafts'33and 36 may be .formedas single continuous elements, if desired, carriedat their opposite endsby a pair of intermediate frame elements 38 and 39which are pivotally supported respectively by the shaft 30 and by a stud301 extending from the opposite side frame 10 in line with the shaft 30.Preferably, however. the .shafts 33 and 36 are formed in severalsections so as to facilitate the removal of the flexible rollersfor,:cleaning and whenever the machineisidle. Due to the necessity ofproviding a substantial amount of pressure between the flexible rollersand another roller, as will presently appear,it is desirable to removethe flexible rollers from the machine whenever the latter is left out ofoperation for any length of time since otherwise permanent indentationsmay be left in the surfaces of the soft rollers. That part of .shaft 33which car- The shaft 17 shaft within the pinion. In this way therotation of the pinion 32 is transmitted to the roller 34. At'itsopposite end the shaft 330 may be journaled within a sleeve 333 whichextends through the rockable frame 39 and has a threaded engagement withthe same. At its inner end the sleeve may be provided with a knurledwheel 334 by means of which the sleeve may be turned to feed it towardor away from the roller 34 by the action of the screw threads 335 on thesleeve. When the machine is placed in condition for operation the sleeve333 will be shifted toward'the roller 34 as far as possible to lendproper support to the shaft 330. However,- when it is desired to. removethe flexible roller 34 from themachinethe-sleeve is shifted in the.opposite direction until it clears the end of the shaft 330 at whichtime the roller may be removed. In a similar way the roller37 ispreferably car:- ried by a separate shaft section 360 which is adaptedto be inserted into the pinion 35 and engaged with the short stub shaft36 to be turned by the latter. At its opposite end the shaft 360 may bevsupportedby a sleeve similar to the sleeve 333'and adapted to beshifted, by a screw motion, relative to the frame 39. Each ofthe frame.elements 38 and 39 isjprovided-with-an upward extension 40' havingpivotally connected thereto a link or pitman 41 having an eccentricstrap 42 bolted or otherwise secured to its opposite end adapted tocooperate with an eccentric 43 secured to the shaft 230. It will beapparent that upon rotation ofithe shaft 230 in the manner previouslyexplained the eccentrics will produce a longitudinal movement of thepitmen 41 and will rock the frame elements 38 and 39- to rock therollers 34 and 37, through a suitable arc'about-the axis of the shaft 30and stud 301.

At another point along the shaft 1'7 there is secured a bevel pinion 44which is adapted to mesh with a gear 45 secured to a shaft 46. Thisshaft may extend from one side frame to the other .but preferably isformed in sections similar to the shaft ,33. A short stubsectionattached to the bevel gear 45 extends partly through a bearing461 and has a recess in its end adapted .toyreceive a rectangularprojection, or the like at the end of another section 460 of the shaft.The opposite end of the shaft 460 is journaled in a bushing 462 whichhas screw threaded engagement with a'supporting block and may be fedaxially of the shaft by turning of a thumb wheel 463. On the shaft 460there is mounted a soft,-flexible roller 47 formed preferably of thesame material as the rollers 34 and 37; it may be of substantiallylargerdiamee ter but by'properselection of gearing the roller 47 ispreferably driven at the same peripheral speed as the smaller rollers.This is not absolutely necessary anda difference of peripheral regardedas preferable since the label is then less likely'to be torn. The shaftsections, 46 and 460 are supported by bearings carried by blocks '48slidably mounted on guides 49 formed on the feed-screw 50 is adapted tocooperate with each of the blocks 48 so that turning of the feedscrewswill shift J the blocks toward or away from the rollers 34 and 37. Abevel pinion 51- mount ed atthe ends of' each of the feed-screws 50 isadapted to mesh with a corresponding bevel pinion 52 carried by a crossshaft-53 supported by brackets extending from the side frames lO and11." Rotation of the'shaft' 53 by means of ahand-wheel 54 will serve tomove'theblocks ,48 and hence the roller. 47 toward or away from therollers 34 and 37 to accommodate the ma chine to the reception of cansof different diameters. 1 Y m i Means are provided for supplying thevarious varnishing rollers 34, 37" and '47 with a suitable quantity ofvarnish to be applied to the'cylindrical surfaces of the cans fedthrough the. machine;v The. varnish supplying means, furthermore,.is soconstructed as to provide-the rollers 57 which extends substantiallyacross the width of the roller and is suitably. supported above it, asshown in Figure 1, by means of a pair of arms 58 swung from a pair ofstuds 59 carried by the extensions 40 of the intermediate frames.

A flexible tube 60 will serve to connect the inlet of the nozzle withthe upper end of a vertically extending pipe161 which, at its lower end,is

connected to the discharge outlet of a suitable,

small gear pump 62. The latter is mounted within a large vat or vessel63 adapted to contain a supply of varnish, from which it maybe pumpedthrough. the lines indicated and discharged along the surface of theroller 55. For driving the pump, a rod or shaft. 64 carrying at 'itsupper end a bevel pinion 65 adaptedflto mesh-with a bevel pinion 66secured to; the shaft 20, may be provided; A vertically movable couplingmember 67 may be provided on the. shaft 64 for connecting 'ordisconnecting the same with relation to the pumpx, a No separate meansis provided for; rotating the roller 55. The latter is merely maintainedin contact with the rollers 34 and Y37 'so that it will be, frictionallydriven by these rollers whenever required. It has been found that solong as both of the rollers 34 and 37 are provided with, suflicientvarnish to properly coat the cans with which they come in contact, theserollerswill merely slip idly-over the surfaceof the roller 55 and thelatter will not be rotated to transfer any additional varnish; ,However,as soon as onev or theother of the rollers 34 and 37 should become toodry to properly apply'varnish to the surface Ofcans, the frictionbetween such roller and the surface of the roller 55 will becomesuflicientlygreat to rotate the latter so that more varnish will betransferred to the soft rollers. This automatic control of thedistributionofvarnish is extremely ,useful since it effects a saving inthe-amountof varnish consumed by the machine forcoating a given numberofcans and it reduces the amount of time required for: drying thevarnish, ,If the coating rollers 'were permitted to receive an excessquantityfof varnish merely slip on the surface of the roller '73 and waythe shafts .75 will be rotated continuously thiswould'be transferred :tothe :cans andif in.

adequatetime for drying were allowed the. cans or the labels thereonwould stick together wh en packed. While a single'roller55maybesatisfactorily employed to supply varnish to both of the rollers 34 and37 a. separate supply roller might be provided for each softroller ifdesired. 1

In that event the excess varnish supplied to? the upper 'steelrollercould trickle .over a, shield and flow onto the lower supply:roller..-.-

Any excess quantity. of .varnish forced through. the nozzle 57againstthe roller55 will becarried around with the roller or bepermittedto trickle downwardly along the rear side'of thefiroller and will bedischarged into a collecting pan 69. From this collection'pan the excessvarnish-is discharged through a pipe70 into a second pan 71,'from whicha portion of. it is'subsequently discharged .by a pipe 72 and returnedto the original storage vessel 63. The inlet of the pipe 72 ismaintained at sucha 'heightiwithin the pan 71 as to provide for theretention of a quantity of I varnish in'the panat a suitablelevel. 1 Ifdesired varnish could .be fed directly from the pipe .61 to the. pan71:and the overflow from both of the pans 69 and 7'1 couldbereturneddirectly'to the vessel 63. This would insure. a slightly greaterconsistency of the varnish applied by the several rollers since theevaporation. of.v the, solvent would be approximately the same for/each.

Normally, however the aextent .of evaporation during the courseofcirculation is so slight that 'it may be ignored. Additional alcoholor othersolvent may be introduced intoFtheJvarnishat any suitable point,preferably in the vessel 63.

A roller 73, similar to the roller 55, is suitably journalled by meansof a shaft 74 beneaththe roller 47. z The shaft-74 is carried bydownward projections formed integrally with: theshiftable blocks 48 sothat the roller 73: willbeumoved fed through the machine, and at othertimes whenthe roller 47 provided with an ample coating of varnish, thesurface of this roller will will .not rotate .the latter to Suitablemeans are also provided for supply- I ing varnishto the ends'of the cansas they are passed through the machine. =For. this "purpose a pair ofstub shafts 75 are-mounted, each in an extension of one. of the rockingframes 38 and 39. These stub shafts are provided with pinion-s 76adapted to mesh with pinions77 carriedby the shaft 30 which, as will berecalled;

receives power from the shaft 17 and-bythe .stud 301 which is drivenfrom the shaft 360 by means of pinions 351 and 311 (Fig. 7). In this solong as the'machine isin operation. A rotary brush '78 is carried-at theinner-endof each of the stub-shafts and is adapted to come in con-, tactwith the. periphery of one, orboth gof the rollers 34 and. 37. Throughthis contact the brushes arecontinuously provided with varnish,

whichis then. transferred by the brushes to the ends ofthe cans. t

Arunway or track; 8 0, carriedby suitable m m er 8; aid. in e a with ofetlierwise secured to arms or extensions 83 of the slidable blocks 48,is adapted to feed cans continuously into' varnishing position. As theroller 47 is shifted to accommodate cans of different diameters, therunway will also be shifted so that anopening 84 therein will serve todrop the cans at the appropriate point between the rollers 37 and 44. Ve A rsum of the operation of the machine may now be briefly given? Thehand-wheel 54 is first rotated to. adjust the blocks 48 to properposition for the coating of cans of the desired diameter. The handwheel26. is also turned to shift the belt 22 into proper position along thecones 21 and 23 to insure operation of the feeding devices of themachine at thespeed at which the cans are properly. and completelycoated. The machine is then set into operation and thecans are fedeither. by hand or by an automatic conveyor system to the runway 80.They are permitted to descend by gravity until the first can is droppedinto the space between the rollers 34 .andy47. At the initial stage of acoating operation, these rollers will be too close together to permitthe can to drop through. The frames 38 will at-this time assume theposition shown in Figure 6. 'Subsequently upon rotation of the shaft 230inxthe direction indicated. by the arrow the rollers will assume theposition shown in Figure 4, at which time the can'will be permitted todrop between the rollers to a further extent and as the frames continueto rock into the position shown in Figure 5,1.the can'will be droppedinto contact with the roller 3'7 in the manner shown. Throughoutthisrocking of the pair of rollers 34 and 37 and the dropping of thecan, the latter will have been rotated by the action of the soft rollersin 0011-. tact with it and. a coating will have been applied to itsouter surface after the manner 0f.a printing transfer; Incidentally itshouldbe observed thatthe action is not a rubbing one which might resultin the tearing of the labels. As the cans are'permitted to drop betweenthe rollers 34, 37 .and 47- in the manner indicated, the brushes. 78will, be rotated. as previously ex-- plained to pick up varnish from theends of the smaller rollers and apply it to the end portions of the cansso that the latter, priorto discharge from the machine, will becompletely coated.

- As rotation of the shaft 230 continues, the frames 38 and 39 will berestored to the position shown in Figure 6 and as they reach thisposition the'coated can will be dropped into a chute or runway beneaththe coating .rollers and will be. discharged from the machine. The

cans may besubsequently removed by.hand 'or .by a suitable conveyorsystem to any suitable drying chamber or apparatus, after which they maybe packed. in cases for shipment. If desired the drying maybe permittedto take place on the table onto which the cans are discharged Figure ,6.If' desired, special detentsmight be provided for retaining andreleasing the 1 cans on'the runway, either under control of the shaft230 or under the control of the movement of the cans. Thus the dischargeof a coated can might be caused to release the detent for theintroduction ofv a subsequent can. However, this type of mechanism notconsidered to be necessary and would, in fact, .tend to slowup theopera-. tion of the machine.

In the course of its travel between the rollers,

each can will be rotatedsomewhat more than a complete revolution .andpreferably will be rotated several 'revolutions in. order to insureadequate coating. The adjustment of the belt 22 by means of thehand-Wheel 26 may be varied at the beginning of a" run for the coatingof .abatch of cans .until the frames 38 and 39 are rocked atsufiicientfrequency to. insure complete coating of the cans withoutreducing the speed of operation too far. Variation of the speed .ofrotation of the shaft 230 and..hence the fre+ quency of the rockingmovements of the rollers 34 and37 will not affect the 'speedof rotationof the coating rollers'since they are driven di*' rectly from the shaft17. It has" been found that the .machine is readily capable of coating120 cans per minute Where the latter are .of the usual 3". diameter. I 7

While one admirable form of the invention has been set forth in detailin the foregoing, itis to be understood that many variations andmodificationsmay be made in the construction and arrangement of thevarious features ofthe machine without departing from the general.spirit and scope of theinvention. Furthermore while the invention hasbeen explained in connection 1. In a machine of. theclass described. a.

flexible coating applying .roller. for applying a coating. to the outersurfaces of containers, a plurality of flexible rollers spaced from saidfirst mentioned roller, a rockable frame adapted tosupport saidplurality of rollers, means. for

supplying a coating substance to saidjrollers, means for continuouslyrotating said rollers, and

means for rocking said frame to permit con tainers to be fed betweenandwithdraw from said rollersbygravity. 4 1

2. In a machine .of the class describeda flexible. coating applyingroller, a plurality of flex ible rollers spaced from said-firstmentioned roller, means for varying the distancebetween said rollers toaccommodate containers of dif ferent diameter, a rockable frame adaptedto support said plurality'of rollers, means for supplying a coatingsubstance tosaid rollers, means for continuously rotating said rollers,andmeans be fed between and withdraw from said rollers. 3.. In a machineof the class described a flexible coating applying roller, a pluralityof flexible rollers spaced from said first mentioned roller, a rockableframe adapted to support said plurality of rollers, means for supplyinga coating substance to said rollers, means for continuously rotatingsaid rollers, means for rocking said frame to permit containers to befed between and withdrawn 'from' said rollers, and means for varying thefrequency of the rocking movements of said frame.

. for rocking said frame to permitcontainersto withdrawal of containersfrom between said' rollers by gravity.

5. In a machine of the class described a plurality of coating rollers,certain of said rollers being spaced from another of said rollers,operating means for rotating all of said rollers, connections from saidoperating means for periodically shifting said certain rollers to permitintroduction and withdrawal of containers from between said rollers, andmeans for varying the relation between the speed of rotation of saidrollers and the frequency of said shifting movements.

6. In a machine of theclass described a plurality of flexible coatingrollers, means for roe tating said rollers, a rockable frame adapted tosupport certain of said rollers in spaced relation from one roller, and,means for rocking said frame to carry a roller thereon towardjsaid.

one roller and another roller thereon away from said one roller topermit feeding of containers between said one roller and those on theframe.

7. In a machine of the class described a flexible coating roller forapplying a'coating to the outer surfaces of containers, a rockableframe, a plurality of smaller flexible rollers mounted on said frameadjacent said first mentioned roller, means for rotating said rollers,and means for rocking said frameto control the feeding of containers bygravity between said first mentioned roller and said smaller rollers.

8. In a machine of the class described a fiexi- I ble coating roller, arockable frame, a plurality of smaller flexible rollers mounted on saidframe adjacent said first mentioned roller, common means for rotatingsaid rollers and for rocking said frame to control the feeding ofcontainers between said first mentioned roller and said smaller rollersand means for varying the rela: tive speeds of said rotating and rockingmovements. a a

9. In a machine of the class described a flexible coating roller forapplying a coating to the outer surfaces of containers, a rockabl'eframe,

a plurality of smaller fiexible rollers mounted Q on said frame adjacentsaid first mentioned roller, means for varying the normal distancebetween said first mentioned roller and the smaller rollers, means forrotating said rollers,

and means for rocking said frame to control the feeding of containers bygravity between said first mentioned roller and said smaller rollers.

GORDON C. COOKE. ROBERT F. BECHT.

